BP engineers could face US criminal charges early in the new year over the oil
spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) in Washington is preparing charges against US-based engineers at the company, the Wall Street Journal reported. Officials at the DoJ are said to be focusing on whether employees submitted false information about the Macondo Well when applying to regulators for permits to drill it.

Next year, 2012, is poised to be a defining year for BP in the US, where the UK company faces civil and criminal investigations from authorities, as well as a wave of private lawsuits. The DoJ has been investigating the spill since the summer of 2010, and in March established an internal 'Deepwater Horizon TaskForce' to pursue the criminal investigation.

Analysts say that President Barack Obama will be keen for the DoJ to finish any criminal investigation ahead of November's presidential election. The administration received heavy criticism for its failure to help stem the spill at the Macondo Well, which began in late April 2010 and was not staunched until the middle of July.

Besides the DoJ's criminal investigation, BP and the other companies involved in the explosion and spill face a civil trial at a New Orleans court in February. The trial, which has consolidated hundreds of civil lawsuits from those who claim they were affected by the spill, will determine how much of the blame and financial penalties each of the companies involved should share.

Alongside BP, the roles of Transocean - owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig - and Halliburton - which cemented the Macondo Well - will be examined at the trial. A report by a presidential commission into the spill released in January concluded that BP, Transocean and Halliburton were all at fault for the explosion, which killed 11 people. Shares in BP closed 0.6pc higher at 458.65p